Mobile multi-hop broadcast packet radio networks are known for their rapid and convenient deployment, self-organization, mobility, and survivability. In this type of network, a transmission from one node is broadcast to all nodes in its "neighborhood", which typically are those nodes within one hop of the transmitting node. For the transmitted data to propagate multi-hops, the data must be relayed by one or more of the nodes to neighbors that are two hops away from the original transmitter. In this way, data will be relayed until it has arrived at all intended destination nodes.
Since there are generally limitations on the number of simultaneous transmitters that a receiver can successfully process, transmission schemes must be developed to dynamically and automatically manage radio frequency connectivity to provide spatial reuse of common channels. Without spatial reuse, if more than one node is transmitting at a time, on a common radio frequency channel, then the multiple transmissions would typically interfere with one another so that only one, or none of the transmissions would be transmitted and received successfully. Spatial reuse of a common channel can be accomplished since some nodes cannot hear other nodes, being spatially isolated, so that the same nodes may transmit at the same time without interfering with one another. The simultaneous transmissions provide significant network end-to-end improvements over networks using a common channel without spatial reuse.
A need has thus arisen for a method for dynamically and automatically managing radio frequency connectivity to provide communication links in a dynamic communications network of mobile nodes.